Why Is Mistletoe Called the Vampire Plant?

Although people enjoy the custom of kissing under the mistletoe, this plant has another, not so pleasant habit. Just as a vampire sucks the blood of its victims, the mistletoe has a victim too, the plant on which it lives.

In order to get nourishment, the mistletoe plant sends its root like structures into the tissue of another plant or tree, killing that plant and sometimes even itself.

Mistletoe begins to grow on these plants when birds carry its seeds and deposit them there.

Sometimes the berry of the mistletoe plant explodes and the force of the explosion can carry its seeds up to distances of 50 feet.